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27 August 2012

This article is the next in my series from guest writers. It is written by Sandra Playle of Vision Research Services and I have kindly been given permission to reproduce it here

WHEN ANZACS COME MARCHING HOME

August 1914
signalled the onset of WW1 with Britain
and Germany
going to war.Australia’s
Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher pledged the government’s full support for Britain.This announcement was met with great
enthusiasm by Australian’s with many patriotic young men keen to sign up for
King and Country.Others were lured to
enlist because they saw it as an opportunity to travel the world.

The First World
War, in terms of casualties and deaths, proved to be most costly for Australia and
the other countries involved.When the
war began Australia
had a population of less than five million yet over 300,000 men enlisted and
from those some 60,000 died and approximately 160,000 were gassed, wounded or
taken prisoner.These 160,000 along with
the other soldiers that survived the war eventually returned home. (1)

During the
ensuing post war years soldiers formed service organizations and governments
put projects into place while the communities organised commemorative services,
erected memorials, and created honour boards, yet the one thing communities
overlooked the most was the soldier himself.Sadly, many still do.

For many years
Australians (in particular, school children) have visited the shores of
Gallipoli, the battlefields of France
and Belgium
as well as the cemeteries where those that died during the battles are buried
and commemorated.They do this to both
honour and research our war dead.However, the soldiers that were fortunate enough to make it back to the
shores of Australia
pale into insignificance despite the fact that their experiences were much the
same.

The soldiers and nurses buried in general cemeteries across Australia
appear to have been largely forgotten.Although some were fortunate enough to be given military funerals, and
many have been commemorated with military headstones, there are still too many
who have not.The reasons for the lack
of markers are varied, but include the family’s lack of ability to afford the
expense.

The most
tangible part of WW1 for Australian’s today, would have to be the soldiers of
Pheasant Wood that were re-interred at the new WW1 Cemetery at Fromelles in
France.People started to take more
notice of the soldiers in their family and this was evident by the many family
members who registered with the Australian Army’s Fromelles Project
administrators.The same was also
apparent by the number of articles that appeared in the print media and aired
on television channels across the country.More interestingly several schools on the east coast of Australia
encouraged their students to research these particular soldiers.People wanted to know more about these men
and families wanted to tell their stories.

COMMUNITY AND
EDUCATION

The people and
organizations within our communities are integral to preserving history but
often they are stymied by lack of funding, volunteers and resources.It takes some major event before the
government’s coffers are opened and sometimes it becomes a ‘feel good’ exercise
as opposed to being purposeful in preserving history.

In 2011 the
Commission for the Centenary of Anzac released its report.It is a fascinating document in its scope and
content although I am left with questions.

The Commission
writes:

“Research
by Colmar
Bruton identified a common theme that expressed the need for people outside the
capital cities to be provided with ways to engage in the centenary to have a
local focus for commemorations and to be left with a lasting legacy from the
centenary activities.It was proposed
that communities may be engaged in activities centred on refurbishing existing
war memorials, honour rolls and avenues of honour.The Commission agrees that these types of
activities would provide opportunities not only for communities to come
together to restore and enhance memorials leaving them as a legacy for future
generations, but to discover the stories and personal histories that played a
part in the development of their communities”.

This is a case
of ‘reinventing the wheel’ as such projects happen annually across Australia and
are funded by Department of Veteran’s Affairs via the ‘Saluting Their Service’
program.Whilst the Commission agrees
that these projects could be part of the Centenary it does suggest that
discovering the stories and personal histories would be worthwhile I was unable
to ascertain how they envisaged that this would be done.

Most states in Australia
run some sort of educational program outside of the school based
curriculum.However, the most
comprehensive outside of the Australian War Memorial that I am aware of exists
at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.The education officers do an outstanding job
of delivering military history to the state of Victoria.Yet what of the rest of Australia?

Several villages that are near CWGC cemeteries
in Belgium and France,
run tours for overseas visitors and often include visits to the local
museums.Many schools run an education
programmes that study the war and the soldiers buried in their local or nearby
CWGC cemeteries.Furthermore, the school
children of those countries, through their various curricula programmes know
more about Australian war history and our war dead than we do in Australia, for
example, the Harefield Churchyard in Middlesex England where children have been
laying wreaths every Anzac Day since the end of the war.Many schools and historians in Turkey, France
and Belgium
have portfolios on Australian soldiers buried in cemeteries in the vicinity of
their community and I am often amazed at the scope and content of their
research.By the same token, these
countries celebrate the various battle anniversaries to the extent that the
Last Post is played at Menin Gate every evening to honour the soldiers.Apart from the Australian War Memorial it is
not known where else the Last Post is played every evening in Australia.It is surprising that the same dedication is
not part of the military history psyche in Australia

A number of
schools undertook some exciting research into the Fromelles lads, in particular
the students from St Mary’s Catholic College in Sydney.This work is indicative of the potential for
the stories of soldiers buried in local cemeteries to be told.The results of their research can be viewed
here:http://smcchistory.ning.com/

In its
discussion on student education the Commission says:

“Between
2011 and 2013, the National History Curriculum for Foundation to Year 10 will
be introduced by departments of education into classrooms in every Australian
state and territory.The curriculum
provides a balanced, rigorous, contextualised approach to Australian, Indigenous
and world history, which will enable students to appreciate Australia’s
social, economic and political development.It will help students to learn about Anzac tradition, Anzac Day and
other important events and symbols in Australian history”

The Commission
goes on to say:

“In regard
to the centenary, class – based activities and projects may be introduced into
the national curriculum that discuss not only the activities of the First World
War, but the role of all conflicts and peacekeeping operations that Australia
has been involved in, from the Boer War through to Afghanistan in helping to
shape our national identity”.

I have managed
to establish what is contained in the Australian History Curriculum concerning
the components for Australia’s
involvement in war.In Year 3 students
learn about ANZAC Day2, however there is no further detail as to the
content in the curriculum.Then it is
not until Year 9 that Australia’s
war history appears in the curriculum through studies into WW1:

“World War
I (1914-1918)

Students
investigate key aspects of World War I and the Australian experience of the
war, including the nature and significance of the war in world and Australian
history.

·An overview of the causes of
World War One and the reasons why men enlisted to fight in the war.

·The places where Australians
fought and the nature of warfare during World War I, including the Gallipoli
campaign

·The impact of World War I,
with a particular emphasis on Australia
(such as the use of propaganda to influence the civilian population, the
changing role of women, the conscription debate.

·The commemoration of World
War I, including debates about the nature and significance of the Anzac
legend.”

WW2 is
introduced to Year 10 students in the following manner:

“World War
II (1939-45)

Students
investigate wartime experiences through a study of World War II in depth. This
includes a study of the causes, events, outcome and broader impact of the
conflict as an episode in world history, and the nature of Australia’s
involvement.

·An overview of the causes
and course of World War

·An examination of
significant events of World War II, including the Holocaust and use of the
atomic

·The experiences of
Australians during World War II (such as Prisoners of War (POWs), the Battle of Britain,
Kokoda, the Fall of Singapore)

·The impact of World War II,
with a particular emphasis on the Australian home front, including the changing
roles of women and use of wartime government controls (conscription, manpower
controls, rationing and censorship)

·The significance of World
War II to Australia’s international relationships in the twentieth century,
with particular reference to the United Nations, Britain, the USA and Asia.”

During an email
discussion with Paul Kliem, President of the History Teachers Association of Australia, I
was able to establish that the content of the curriculum components was left
pretty much to the discretion of the teacher thus making the Commission’s
ideals for the Centenary celebrations pointless.

Whilst the
Commission concedes that the community believes that education is paramount
there appears to be a rather large gap between their report and the National
History Curriculum content.Therefore,
during such a significant period in Australian history the soldier and his
history are passed over once again.

AUSTRALIAN
CEMETERIES

The Office of
Australian War Graves tend graves of soldiers buried in a general cemetery when
they fall into a specific criteria all others are the responsibility of the
family.Very few cemetery authorities
tend graves and as family members die or move out of the area the gravesite is
rarely visited it falls into disrepair thus obliterating some if not all of the
soldier’s history.

Within some
State Government legislation there is little protection for cemetery
preservation and many cemeteries have been demolished with buildings
constructed over the top of the graves at some later stage.In many cases irreplaceable artworks in the
form of headstones have been destroyed along with tomes of historic fact.Some could consider it to be legalised
vandalism and desecration of sacred sites or consecrated ground.Furthermore, and specifically for Western
Australia, the desecration of soldiers graves at Karrakatta Cemetery was
described as ‘inevitable’ by the Secretary of the day for the state’s RSL.In fact, the WA RSL has never publicly taken
up the baton to protest about the clearing of soldier’s headstones anywhere in
the state nor have they considered introducing a project to record them.Large sections of Karrakatta Cemetery
were completely cleared of headstones without photographs or transcriptions
being recorded.Even as this article is
being written, sections of this cemetery are earmarked for clearing.

An example of
the types of burial places being obliterated from Western
Australia’s military history at Karrakatta Cemetery
is that of Corporal Bertie Onions MM and Bar whose headstone was removed during
the complete clearing of one of the Roman Catholic sections.Bertie was born in England, later his family
moved to Denmark WA where they took up farming and in October 1916 at the age
of 20 he signed up to take part in WW1.Corporal Onions served with 48th Battalion being wounded
twice during fighting in 1918 and his bravery on two occasions saw him awarded
the Military Medal and a Bar to that medal.The citations read:

Military Medal:- "For conspicuous
gallantry and devotion to duty during operations 8th/9th August 1918.During the advance on PROYAT Pte Onion
handled his Lewis Gun with great skill and courage in the face of opposition
from the enemy.At one stage, seeing the
Company on the right being in trouble by an enemy machine gun, Pte Onion crept
out with his Lewis Gun and succeeded in silencing the enemy gun which had
already caused several casualties.When
the final objective was reached Pte Onion got his Lewis Gun into position and
gave valuable assistance in beating back a party of 20 Germans who were
attempting to regain a strong post.Pte
Onion's conduct throughout operations greatly inspired the men around him"

Bar
to Military Medal"For conspicuous
gallantry and devotion to duty during the advance near LE VERQUIER on the 18th
September 1918.L/Cpl Onion in charge of
a Lewis Gun section after the capture of the objective charged a portion of the
enemy trench still holding out and preventing our troops on his flank
advancing.Although his No 2 and 3 were
shot he worked ahead under heavy machine gun fire, took up a position from
where he could enfilade the enemy trench holding up the advance. From here he
gave covering fire which greatly assisted the flank troops to advance and
finally capture the trench and its garrison who were unable to escape owing to
L/Cpl Onion's fire.His action displayed
wonderful dash and initiative which inspired great confidence in the remainder
of his section."

Through a
concerted effort within a community coupled with a school education program
each and every soldier’s grave, outside of the jurisdiction of the Office of
Australian War Graves, could and can be reclaimed, repaired, restored and
researched and their story told.Those
well researched and recorded personal histories could be given back to the
community via local libraries, local government offices, RSL branches, cemetery
authorities and historical societies thus ensuring every soldier in that
cemetery has been granted the right to live forever.

CONCLUSION

On ANZAC Day
2012, the talented 117 member Orchestra from Western
Australia’s Churchlands Independent State
School will play at the opening of the
“House of Australians” in Vignacourt in France.Attending this event will be prominent
Australians and Australian Historians.Perhaps I am cynical but I have yet to see such attention given to an
event in Western Australia
outside of Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.Nor have I seen that amount of money dedicated to the memory of soldiers
anywhere in Western Australia outside of the
state war memorial or the Army
Museum.Perhaps the full potential of the WA Army
museum has yet to be discovered.

Paul Kelly of
‘The Australian’ whilst discussing the report of Commission for the Centenary
of Anzac in his article “The Next Anzac Century” published 23rd
April 2011 wrote; “The report is prudent but
disappointing. It reflects an Anzac story that now carries too many
expectations and is weighed down trying to satisfy everybody from
traditionalists to the peace movement”.Ironically Kelly missed the way out of those
expectations, which is through the stories of the soldiers themselves.Those individual histories can reshape the
story of the ANZACs and breath life into what this generation of men were
really like.

It is those men
that came home wounded, scarred, limbless, tortured by nightmares and
terrorised by their experiences, it is their stories of what their lives were
like and what they achieved post war that need to be told.These were amazing men who did amazing
things. These are the stories that are
beyond Gallipoli, beyond Simpson, beyond Kokoda for every soldier has earned
the right to live forever.

Footnotes:

1: A percentage of soldiers did not return to Australia
choosing to remain or marry overseas.

2. Days and weeks celebrated or commemorated in Australia (including Australia Day,
ANZAC Day, Harmony Week, National Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC week and National
Sorry Day) and the importance of symbols and emblems.

26 August 2012

Following my post about the WWI trio
awarded to Douglas Welsh and the 1914 Star in his trio, I have been asked
several times about the difference between the 1914 Star and the 1914-15 Star.
These links from wiki gives some detail -1914 Star and 1914-15 Star.

Even though Australian service men were fighting in German controlled New Guinea in 1914 they did not receive the 1914 Star due to the quailing criteria being for service 'in France and Belgium between 5 Aug and 22 Nov 1914'. These men received the 1914-15 Star. So a 1914 Star is very rear to an AIF soldier as very few qualified for it.

I have also found a very good article
on the British Medal Forumwritten by Geoff Reeves. Geoff has kindly
given me permission to reproduce his article.

The following will be a very brief
introduction to the 1914 Star. It should cover the basics that the new
collector needs to know if they are to collect Great War medals. General Description:
The 1914 Star (also known as the "Mons"
Star after the BEF's fighting retreat to Mons)
was authorised in April 1917. Physically it is a 4-pointed Star (though the top
point is "hidden" by a crown), approximately 50mm in height and 45mm
in width. Additionally there are 2 crossed swords running through the centre of
the medal. A scroll appears in the gaps formed by the swords and it reads (from
top to bottom) "AUG"; "1914"; "NOV". Finally a
wreath runs around the perimeter of the star and at the bottom is George V's
cypher. It is not known who designed this medal. Riband:
The riband is 3 vertical, uniform stripes of Red, White, and Blue - watered
(that is, where the colours run into one another slightly). Clasps:
One clasp was issued for this medal - that for 5 Aug - 22 Nov 1914.
Approximately 387 000 1914 Stars were issued and of these - approximately 145
000 qualified for the clasp. The clasp was authorized in 1919. A rosette was
issued for wear on the on the ribbon when medals were not worn. this rosette
was to denote the receipt of the clasp to the 1914 Star. Two things about this
rosette: 1) it is sometimes seen, in place of the clasp, on the riband of a
1914 Star medal - this is incorrect - it was to denote the clasp when medals
were not worn. 2) it is sometimes heard that the rosette was to differentiate the
ribbons of the 1914 star and the 1914-15 Star when ribbons only were worn. This
is a myth. The ribbons are identical and nothing was done to differentiate
them. The rosette on the undress ribbon always denotes receipt of the
clasp, not just the 1914 Star. Qualification: Medal
Qualification for the 1914 Star was for those who served in France or Belgium from 5th August 14 to
midnight of 22/23 Nov 14. NB: The Royal Navy did not receive this medal, they
received the 1914-15 Star - the exception being those who were at Antwerp prior to 22/23
Nov 14. A list of the units of the RN who qualified can be found below. Qualification: Clasp
Qualification for the 5 Aug-22 Nov clasp was for all those who were under
fire between those dates. "Under Fire", as I understand it, meant
those serving within range of the German mobile artillery (in other words -
within a couple of miles of the front lines). Naming:
All 1914 Stars are impressed in block capitals - in 3 lines - with the
recipients Number, Rank and Name, and unit (with line infantry the battalion
number is often included - something not seen on later medals).
This, as I stated in the opening lines, is a very basic piece on the 1914 Star
and its characteristics. There are exceptions, nuances, and variations
associated with this medals - as there are with all medals - but the scope of
this article is only to familiarize the beginner with what he or she needs to
know.

The research potential for the 1914 Star
is, like all other Great War medals, fairly good. MIC's (Medal Index Cards) are
available online from the National Archives website and can be downloaded in .pdf
format for £3.50. A visit to the NA, at Kew in Surrey,
may yield more information in the form of the soldier's service record. If you
cannot make it yourself there are researchers who can be hired to do this.
Two caveats here: you might be disappointed to find that the soldier's record
did not survive - as a portion of the Army's service files were destroyed
during the London Blitz. I believe, however, that the RN and RAF files survived
unscathed. Nevertheless it is always worth looking.
The second caveat is to choose your researcher carefully - shop around, as you
would when looking for any professional service - some are better than others,
and there's no point in paying someone £20.00 of your hard-earned money to tell
you that no record was found, when one does indeed exist (and I'm speaking from
personal experience here). So, ask several different people whom they would use
and then contact the researcher and ask them about their rates and exactly what
services they provide. Do they do the research themselves or do they have
research assistants (who may or may not be as qualified) do the actual legwork?
What papers, if extant, will they be searching for? (I've heard of some people
paying good money to just get the MIC and an extract from the regimental
history - something you don't need a researcher for!) What fees will they
charge: are the fees the same whether the researcher is successful or not?
Anyway, you get the idea.
Other sources of research are the relevant war diaries (a record of the battalion's
day-to-day activities that will often list officers - it is rare, however, to
see an other-rank listed by name), the Regimental Histories (once again,
usually only officers get mentioned by name, but many have casualty lists and
gallantry rolls for all ranks), Regimental museums (some are more helpful than
others but it never hurts to inquire), Regimental Journals (often can be found
in used-book stores - I've found many to my regiment of interest at these sorts
of places), various military history or regimental websites, and of course,
fora like these (especially this one!)

24 August 2012

The final item that came to me recently from the NSW RSL was a welcome home badge presented to 2185 Driver Stewart (Jack) Arlington Hall. These badges were very common after WWI and the patriotic groups of towns and communities presented them to locals who enlisted. This particular badge was presented by the town of Wellington in NSW.
The search for Jack's family stalled a bit until I located his death notice and found the names of his daughter, her husband and their sons. What this notice didn't give me was Jack's daughter's married name. Luckily, her first name is an unusual spelling and by process of elimination I narrowed down the candidates to one likely family. By combining this surname and the name of Jack's grandson, which I had got from the death notice, I found a person of this name on the internet. I took a punt this morning and sure enough I had the right family.
Jack's grandson tells me he has Jack's medals so this will add to the family collection.

It looks as though a ring at the top of the badge has broken off as well as one of the stems at the bottom left. The badge is about the size of a 10c piece.

I've almost completed the research on all the items I received from the NSW RSL on 20 August 2012.
The three Masonic medals in the package date from the 1950s and were engraved with the names D.S.L Keay and A.R. Keay. Ancestry provided the full names as David Smith Laing and Allan Richmond, both living in New Zealand. From the Auckland War Memorial Museum website I found these details about David.
Having David's full name led me to another website belonging to Mr Nigel Keay. Nigel is a composer and violinist who lives and works in France. A link on Nigel's web site has a wonderful collection of WWI photosof David and of some of the sights he saw in Egypt. This link is to David's obituary.
Nigel is the grand son and son of David and Allan. His brother lives in Sydney so I'll return the medals to him.
All that remains from the items I received from the NSW RSL is a WWI badge and I hope to finalise that case today.
The returned medal tally is now 1181.

23 August 2012

In the previous post I mentioned that I had recently received several items from the NSW RSL. One of these was a WWII War Medal. This particular medal was awarded to NX174153 Noel Travers Aisbett. I found Mr Aisbett easily enough in the NSW electoral rolls and noticed that he was at the same address for many years. Following a hunch I looked up Mr Aisbett in the White Pages and sure enough there he was still at the same address.
This morning I had a lovely chat with Noel. He tells me that he lost his medal about a year ago when is fell out of a bag. This bag also contained his other four WWII medals. So not only is this medal going to be returned to the vetern it will be reunited with the rest of his medal group.
The returned medal tally is now 1178.

21 August 2012

Sometimes I wish all the searches we do where as easy as this one.
Yesterday, I received a package from the NSW RSL. The package contained two contemporary Australian medals, a WWII War Medal, a WWI badge and a collection of Masonic medals.
The contemporary medals are the Australian Service Medal and the Australian Defence Medal. From the number I suspected that the recipient was in the RAN. A quick check of the Defence phone directory today gave me a possible candidate so I fired of an email. As it happens the CO of the ship this chap is posted to is a good friend of mine so I made a quick call and confirmed I had the right person.
I now know that the medals were stolen recently but will soon be back with the owner.
I have the phone number of the WWII veteran and the grand son of the WWI veteran whose medal and badge were in the package. I'm just waiting for them to return home so I can give them each a call.
The returned medal tally is now 1177.

16 August 2012

I have about five medals awarded to Merchant Navy men which are proving difficult to research. There are some Merchant Navy details on the WWII nominal roll but this is a bit hit and miss. So researching medals awarded to men who served in the Merchant Navy is not the easiest.
I recently received a War Medal awarded to F Perret from Andrew G a fellow Army officer who I've know for many years. Even with such an unusual surname Perret proved hard to pin down. The only reference to him in the National Archives was an application for war medals made in 1947. Although the initial was the same the application didn't provide the complete name. Digging in to Ancestry proved to pull all the threads together and I've recently been in contact with Perret's family.
I now know that his name was Francis and he worked as a cook on merchant vessels prior to the war. He continued to serve in the same capacity during WWII which earned him this medal.
The returned medal tally is now 1175.

This example show that RAN naming is more pronounced that medals awarded to the Army.

07 August 2012

This post is a continuation of including guest writers on my blog who have produced interesting articles relating to Commonwealth medals.
This article originally appeared on the British Medals Forum and is a fascinating piece of research. For anyone who watched British WWII movies the name Lord Haw Haw will be familiar. This story is about the career of Lewis Ball who was the Prison Governor who presided over the hanging of William Joyce who was Lord Haw Haw. I am very grateful to Lloyd of the BMF for giving me permission to reproduce this article. Lloyd has been mentioned on this blog before when he assisted Bill and me locate the family of Lieutenant Commander George Raymond Grandage.
For anyone with an interest in medals I highly recommend becoming a member of the British Medals Forum.

Prison Governor Lewis Ball

Lewis Ball was Governor of His Majesty’s
Prison Pentonville when the spies Waldeburg, Meier and Kieboom were hanged in
1940, and Governor of HM Prison Wandsworth when the traitors Jon Amery and
William Joyce were hanged in 1945 and 1946. Ball’s active service in two wars
from 1916 to 1919 was really an interruption in a forty-year career with the
Prison Service, most of which was spent as Governor of various prisons
including, in addition to Pentonville and Wandsworth, those at Usk, Preston,
Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester (Strangeways) and Wormwood Scrubs. The
Germans and the tribesmen on the North-West Frontier of India would probably have been no match for the
hard men that Ball had to deal with in the UK throughout his working life.

Lewis Cecil Ball was born on 21 July 1887
at Luton, Bedfordshire, at that time a rural area outside London. His father George was an advertising
inspector. By the time of the 1891 census (and in 1901), the Ball family were
living in Tonbridge, Kent. Lewis Ball was educated at
Sir Andrew Judd’s Free School in Tonbridge (now Tonbridge
School), and according to his army
papers, Lewis Ball was also educated at King’s College, on The Strand, London.

On 27 October 1903, when he was aged just 16, Ball was registered as a
Temporary Boy Clerk in the Civil Service (London Gazette 30 October 1903). On
15 November 1907, by which time he was 20, Ball joined the Prison Service with
his appointment as a Second Class Clerk in a Prison (London Gazette 3 December
1907). With a break for war service, he would be a member of the Prison Service
for the next forty five years.

Lewis Ball’s first prison was HMP Knutsford, in Cheshire, where he served from February 1908
to March 1912 (with a four-month stint in 1910, possibly for training, in the
Home Office). From March 1912, still as a Second Class Clerk, Lewis Ball was
posted to HMP Liverpool (also known as Walton
Gaol), a larger and tougher establishment than Knutsford.

After the outbreak of war in 1914, severe pressure was put on prison staff by
enlistments into the armed forces. Lewis Ball, aged 27, did not immediately
enlist. In the last quarter of 1914 he married Florence Steel in Tonbridge, and
moved her back to Liverpool. In December 1915
Lewis Ball presented himself to the army, and was attested and examined. He
then went back to Liverpool Prison to await his call up.

Ball was mobilized on 24 March 1916 and was appointed into the ranks as a
Gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery. He served in the UK to 25
October 1916, when he was sent to the Western Front for his first war.

Arriving in France
on 26 October 1916, Gunner Ball was posted to 13th Siege Battery RGA. The
battery’s services during the time that Gunner Ball served at the front have
not been researched, however it is certain that he would have seen considerable
action, and also endured the conditions of the miserable winter of 1916/17.

Although he remained a Gunner, Lewis Ball must have exhibited some leadership
qualities because in April 1917 he applied for a commission in the RGA. In
July, as the majority of the batteries on the Western Front were concentrating
for the terrible Battle of Ypres, Gunner Ball was ordered back to the UK to attend an
Officer Cadet Unit.

After eight and a half months’ active service, Lewis Ball was back in the UK by 13 July
1917. After a spot of leave in Tonbridge and possibly a spell in hospital
(parts of his service papers are illegible), Ball joined an Officer Cadet Unit
at Fort Brockhurst,
Gosport, on 24 October 1917.

Lewis Cecil Ball was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Garrison
Artillery on 1 April 1918. Although the German offensive was raging on the
Western Front, from his papers it appears that Ball never returned to the Great
War – even though his British War Medal and Victory Medal are named to him as
an officer. Instead, after a further three months in the UK, Second Lieutenant Ball was posted to India – and
indirectly, to his second war.

Ball embarked at Southampton on 4 July 1918, and disembarked at Bombay on 13 August 1918.
By 18 December 1918, Second Lieutenant Ball was with 1 Mountain Artillery
Brigade – armed with small mountain guns rather than the siege guns he was used
to – at Peshawar, then on the north-west frontier of India. He was posted to 6
British Mountain Battery, and was with the
battery when the Third Afghan War formally erupted on 6 May 1919.

One of the precursors to the Third Afghan War was the Amritsar massacre in May 1919 – an event that
was to have minor repercussions for Lewis Ball more than twenty years later.
While 6 British Mountain Battery took part in the campaign in 1919, it does not
appear to have been heavily engaged and owing to the number of batteries on
lines of communication and guard duties the activities of the battery are not
clear from available records. The campaign was certainly difficult for all
participants, with the majority of casualties being caused by the climate and
poor sanitary conditions.

Second Lieutenant Ball was absent from his unit for one week during the
campaign – the reason cannot be deciphered from his service record. He was
certainly present with the battery in the field on 24 June 1919, but shortly
after received demobilization orders and made the long journey from the
north-west frontier to Bombay, where he embarked
for the UK
on 20 July 1919.

Lewis Ball was disembodied on 27 September 1919 and transferred to the Reserve.
His date of promotion to Lieutenant was dated, strangely, 1 October 1919. For
his three years of service, Ball received the British War Medal, the Victory
Medal and the India
General Service Medal 1908 with the clasp ‘Afghanistan NWF 1919’. The ribbons
would be worn frequently.

Unlike a lot of men returning after several years away, Lieutenant Lewis Ball
had a job waiting for him, in the Prison Service. He was now aged 32, and in
addition to his pre-war service as a clerk in two prisons, had broadened his
experience of life and men – and discipline - with active service in two wars.
With effect from 1 January 1920, Lewis Ball was appointed a Governor, Class 5 –
the lowest of the five ranks of prison governors – of HM Prison Usk, in
Monmouthshire.

As the senior officer, prison governors were responsible for all aspects of
prison life, particularly security and the maintenance of prison discipline, and
supervision of the prison officers. A daily inspection of the prison appears to
have been a major part of the governors’ routine. They could reward or punish
prisoners, were responsible for ensuring that prisoners’ mail was read and,
because of their statutory responsibilities, any overnight absence from the
prison had to be approved by the Prison Commissioners in London. The governors were almost as
institutionalised as the prisoners themselves. One of the mandatory duties of
prison governors was to attend executions – hangings – and Lewis Ball witnessed
many of these in his long career.

At the time Lewis Ball was appointed a prison governor, the Prison Service of
England and Wales
was going through one of its regular reviews. English Prisons Today – Being the
Report of the Prison System Enquiry Committee, published in 1922, probably
gives as good a snapshot as can be obtained on the system in which Lewis Ball
became a very senior officer. The Enquiry Committee was very critical of Prison
Governors, particularly the process for their selection and the “almost
exclusively disciplinarian attitude” of the Governors themselves.

The Committee apparently endorsed the view of a chaplain that men promoted from
within the Prison Service to be governors were ‘toadies to those above them and
bullies to those below’. The Committee concluded: ‘Generally, we should say
that governors are men of limited knowledge, disciplinarians, lacking in
imagination, sceptical about new proposals, but conscientious and just.’ It is impossible
to know where Lewis Ball fitted into all this, although in a footnote to the
report the Committee noted:

Recently a number of civil service clerks connected with the prison system have
been made governors. This has aroused considerable criticism among prison
officers, who complain that they have no knowledge of discipline duties. This clearly was a reference to men such as Ball.

Promoted Governor Class 4 in April 1921, Ball remained at Usk until April 1922,
when the prison was closed. It was at Usk that Ball oversaw his first hanging –
William Sullivan was a 41 year old convicted murderer that went to the scaffold
on 23 March 1922. Sullivan was the first of more than thirty murderers, spies
and traitors that Lewis Ball was to see die at the end of a rope, at Liverpool,
Birmingham, Strangeways, Pentonville and Wandsworth.

From Usk, Lewis Ball was transferred back to his old prison, Liverpool.
He had left in 1916 to go to war as a Gunner; six years later he was back as
the Guv. Promoted Governor Class 3 in May 1925, Ball was transferred to Preston. Another promotion, to Governor Class 2 in
December 1929, and after another four years, in May 1931 Ball was sent to Birmingham.

On 21 March 1935, aged 47, Lewis Ball was promoted to Governor Class 1, the
most senior governor rank in the prison service. With the promotion came
another transfer, to Strangeways Prison, Manchester.
While at Strangeways, Ball oversaw the hanging of one of the most sensational
murderers of his day, Dr Buck Ruxton, who had killed, mutilated and dismembered
his wife and her maid. Many members of the public were convinced of Ruxton’s
innocence, and a petition urging clemency was signed by more than 10,000
people. Lewis Ball saw Buck Ruxton executed on 12 May 1936.

The outbreak of the Second World War brought significant challenges to the
Prison Service. For the first time, prisons came under air attack, and there
were significant staff shortages and other pressures. Strangeways was in an
area assessed as likely to come under air attack, and many of the prisoners
with short sentences remaining were released.

The most dangerous place for the Prison Service was London – and this is where Lewis Ball was to
serve from March 1940 to the end of the war, in Pentonville, Wormwood Scrubs and
finally Wandsworth. Ball was made Governor of Pentonville in March 1940,
serving there only until 1942 when the prisoners were moved out and most of the
buildings handed over to the army ‘for the duration’.

While at Pentonville, Ball was present at the execution of Udham Singh. Singh,
an Indian independence activist and revolutionary was hanged on 31 July 1940
for the assassination of Sir Michael O’Dwyer, GCIE, KCSI, former Governor of
the Punjab. It is not known if Ball wore the
ribbon of the India
General Service Medal when he attended Udham Singh’s execution. If so, Singh
should have recognised it as he was a recipient of the medal himself. Singh is
still regarded as a patriot and hero in India;
his body was eventually exhumed from Pentonville and repatriated to India in 1974.

Carl Meier, Jose Waldeburg and Charles van der Kieboom, also hung at
Pentonville under Lewis Ball’s eyes, were three of sixteen men executed in the UK for spying
in the Second World War. Waldeburg was German while Meier and van der Kieboom
were Dutchmen, all of whom had landed on the South Coast
and were caught almost immediately in possession of a short wave radio
transmitter and a quantity of pound notes. They were tried under the Treachery
Act 1940, and convicted in November 1940. Waldeburg and Meier were hanged by
the famous hangman Thomas Pierrepoint (who would have been well-known to Ball)
on 10 December 1940. Kieboom went to the gallows a week later.

When Pentonville was put into mothballs, Lewis Ball was transferred to another
famous institution, HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs. He served as Governor at the
Scrubs for three years, from January 1942 to January 1945, when he went to his
last prison – Wandsworth.

Lewis Ball was Governor at Wandsworth from 1 February 1945 until 1947.
Wandsworth had been bombed repeatedly and in March 1945, not long after Ball
took over, the prison was hit in the penultimate V2 rocket attack on London. The V2 crashed
and exploded near the deputy governor’s house.

The years 1945 to 1947 saw no fewer than 15 hangings at Wandsworth, which Ball
as Governor was obliged to attend. The murderers included Robert Blaine,
executed in December 1945 for the murder of Captain John Ritchie of the
Canadian Army, and the Polish black marketeers Marion Grondkowski and Henryk
Malinowski, executed on the same day in April 1946 for the shooting of ‘Russian
Robert’ Martirosoff.

Two men were also hung for treason at Wandsworth under the watchful eye of
Lewis Ball. They were tried and convicted under the Treason Act of 1351. John
Amery, the son of a cabinet minister, had made broadcasts from Germany and had
exhorted Allied prisoners to fight for the Germans on the Russian front.
Famously, his trial lasted just eight minutes and he was hung on 19 December
1945 after a stay of several weeks at Wandsworth.

William Joyce, nicknamed ‘Lord Haw Haw’ because of his accent and trademark
‘Gairmany calling’ at the start of his radio propaganda broadcasts, was perhaps
the most famous British traitor of the war – despite being a US citizen.
Joyce was extremely complimentary of the care and attention given to him by the
Prison Service over his last months, and was transferred to Wandsworth not long
before his execution. He was hanged by Albert Pierrepoint at 9.00 am on
Thursday, 3 January 1946.

After being a prison governor from 1920, in 1947, aged 60, Lewis Ball was
promoted to Assistant Director in the Prison Service, at Horseferry Road, London.
He was one of four assistant directors, serving under six directors, the whole
under the Chairman of the Prison Commission. It must have been quite a change
for Ball, although the salary – about £1300 – was very generous.

Lewis Ball worked as an assistant director until his retirement in 1950. As a
member of the Prison Service during the Second World War, Lewis Ball was
eventually awarded the Defence Medal. It was a small enough reward, as Ball
received no Jubilee or Coronation medals, nor any other honours, for his many
years of service.

Although a considerable amount of information has been unearthed on Lewis
Ball’s official duties as a senior prison official, no information has been
found on his character or personality. Most prison governors were hard and even
harsh men, and tough disciplinarians. With his very long service in some of the
hardest prisons in England,
Lewis Ball may have been a hard man. Or, coming as he did from the clerical
staff, he may have been reform minded, within the parameters of the day.
Regardless, he must have had a strong sense of duty and been a strong leader.

It is not known yet whether Lewis and Florence Ball had children, or whether Florence survived her
husband. Lewis Cecil Ball appears to have remained in London after his retirement; his death was
registered in Croydon in the third quarter of 1966, when he was aged 79.

Horace Leslie Soppa initially served in the militia as Q66183 in the 1st Labour Company. He later transferred to the 2nd AIF as QX21025 and served in the 2/26th Battalion. As his number indicates, Horace was from Queensland and the electoral rolls show that he remained in Queensland after the war.
Unfortunately, the medal disc has come away from the suspender and where the rest of his group is remains a mystery.
Horace's medal will be returned to his family who are still in Queensland and thank you to Shirley F of Mt Magnet who sent the medal to me in the first place.
The returned medal tally is now 1174.